Reply With QuoteHow are things going a year after you made that first post Judyd?
I recently walked out on a job before accepting my assignment. While other issues were involved nurses were told that they must be out on time no matter what. Then staff was cut to a minimal ghost staff. This cut was due to corporate owners of brandywine insisting that profit level although existent were dot desirable and there was to be no ot . requiring don to give daily reports on hours worked by staff. Now let me explain here, about the bullshit that was pedalled to pts and family, regarding the ever present "nursing shortage" it was not the case that adequate staff was not available for work, merely that they would be overtime hours and thus reflect poorly in don report and evaluation. Many night I had 20-22 pts on a sub acute unit, very ill patients, who require much better observation and evaluation than was available. I would literally be running some nights and would not even see a chart until 1230am. I pride myself in being a very competent,hardworking, dedicated to pt. needs, and i will not be neglegent. i had to face these pts the next day. i did not want overtime. i have 4 small children and my income is helpful but not necesary to keep a roof above us. but plenty of staff were willing to put the time in when short and were told to go home. on top of this pt load the unit secretary we had for 1/2 shift was taken and somedays on top of this pt load we would have discharge and admissions which as we all no require alot of time and paperwork, thrown in . absolutely unnescary madness. with no regard to pt safety, and nurses being held accountable when an issue was raised.I know there is a true shortage of nursing but it is not the explanation for everything. as usual someones pocketbook is. Its so easy to take this as the be all end all of answers to the wrongs in healthcare system. I refer to it as the "REAL FLEECING OF AMERICAN PUBLIC" acutely ill pts being sent out of hospitals to ill- equipped, undertrained LTC facilities, these pts for the most part are fighting to stay alive, and they are not aware of just how endanger they are. When I left this facility was taking on oncology pts. staff was given nothing but an inservice on guiding these pts to in-house hospice care which low and behold was a branch of corporate. People are desired for fast turnover like a waitresses table at lunch time. These patients represent a high quick revenue andf when these services are tapped for payment from insurance pts are supposed to be guided to choose to give up fighting for life. While I advocate and support any personal decision of a terminal pt, I do not appreciate and wont participate in a protocol that is designed to push a decision go one way or the other.,so that a bed is free to start it all over again.Can you imagine the big corporate pow wow that comes up with "profit margins are not high enough here,we need to cut the corners that weve already stripped them, and gosh darnit these pts are lingering around too long,they are not cost-effective(this facility is trying to do away with there brain injury program for this reason.)we want a pt that ships in makes the maximum deposit and ships out fast, turnover gentlemen, turnover is the name of the game here. PROFIT PROFIT PROFIT." I ONLY HOPE CORPORATION FALLS AND AND THOSE WHO VALUE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OTHERS SO LITTLE FIND THEMSELVES IN THE SYSTEM THEY HAVE DESIGNED. Although the rich will always recieve optimum health care. Its the working middle class that wiil suffer, and i mean suffer in the literal sense. People need to wake up to whats going on . unfortunatly people don't discover the horrendous things awaiting them until they are there, and the time left that they have becomes so valuable that crusading the cause isnt a priority and probably shouldn't be . Ive often thought of writing to local papers to open discussion and broaden community knowledge of what really waits for them god forbid tragedy should strike them. I'd appreciate return views and opinions. slimjll2@aol
How are things going a year after you made that first post Judyd?
Christ! It has been a long time since I started this thread, Just stumbled across it again. I am a member of ANA now. Did not get elected though. I was ask to lead UBC and am on NPC. Nurse Practice Council has given me knew energy. I do feel like I can be a part of a solution. We are working toward the goal of Magnet status, and I am proud to be a part of it. I also have really came to a deeper understanding of the cross training that that All41 talks about. I try very hard to remain cheerful and help the most frustrated hard working staff if I have any caught up time. I believe that makes me very valuable as an employee and get lots of comments of being missed when I am gone. I broke my arm and am just now able to go back on workmans comp and help out what I can. I do know fellow staff truly appreciate me. It was very hard on me to stay home and need help from others. I am so glad to be back even for light duty, and do appreciate the benefits from my place of employment. I plan to hang in there and keep trying to be a part of the solution. I have copied off thing from this site and plan to share with others for brainstorming. I still definately have my days of frustration. recenetly seem to be getting very aggrivated when I get a Dr's order to transfer a pt to MICU or CCu and the bed crunch has there staff coming to my floor to assess and pick the pt they judge to be the most deserving to live. But I am still working on the inside. Glad for all the input here.
It's very frustrating when we turn in "acuity levels" in the ICU-- but nursing management never seems to actually read them and make staffing adjustments accordingly. Do you guys think we will ever see mandatory staffing laws that link staffing to patient ration and acuity.. and will be enforcable?? Will it ever happen?
I think the AHA will always manage to block laws like that- or make sure there are so many loopholes in them that they'll always work nurses & hospital staff like dogs.. is there any hope?
God help us all (in medicine as staff and pts) I hear more and more hospital staff becoming increasingly miserable with their jobs, unable to do a good job due to rapid admissions and turnovers, and acute pt needs in out of specialty areas just to fill the bed. But where will the pts go if they are not allowed a bed? I really believe there are lots of nurses out there who would gladly return to a hospital setting if they were allowed to work at a more relaxed caring pace. Yet we do still have nurses on the work force that are so relaxed that the main thing they do is find out what did not get done before they came on and spend the rest of the shift sitting at the desk and complaining about that. I have always strived to keep it real, will keep trying...
OMG, You are so brave; yet so correct. This is such an important reply and I hope that everyone reads it. Nurses are intimidated daily by their supervisors to take on unrealistic and dangerous assignments. They prey on your compassion to "stick it out" for the sake of the patients. Well, just you let one thing go wrong and you will find yourself out on a tiny branch with no net. It is so important for nurses to understand that they can refuse an assignment without being sited as abandonment. You may catch the wrath of your facility but you will not lose your nursing license!! If more nurses would exercise this right, maybe more would be done to adequately staff a facility. What do you guys think?
I understand your frustration. I do not work acute care, but am in LTC and my ratio is 1 nurse, 2 CNA to 42 residents. I work a dementia unit and the behaviors i.e. aggression, falls, etc. is on a daily basis. In addition to medications and treatments we are trying to end run the behaviors and I feel that I am just not providing the kind of care and environment that I went into nursing for.
I think we all feel the same way..no matter where we work...but I don't know the answer either
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